SANDAG OKS TRANSIT PLAN THAT INCLUDES ‘BUS BRIDGE’

Residents complain span will cross too close to their homes

A South County transit project that will involve building a “bus bridge” 16 feet from some homes in eastern Chula Vista was approved Friday despite continued outcry from residents and concerns from several regional leaders.

In a 14-5 vote, the San Diego Association of Governments’ board allowed the South County Bus Rapid Transit service to move forward. The approval greenlights final designs and construction plans for the 21-mile project, which will connect Otay Mesa with downtown San Diego by cutting through Chula Vista and National City. Coordinators envision 11 stations and the use of commuter-friendly, high-frequency buses traveling on the future Interstate 805 express lanes.

But it’s not the project’s freeway path that has some residents upset.

Critics have focused on a proposed 900-foot-long, 23-foot-tall bridge that will guide buses over state Route 125 and continue west through the Monet and Treviana condo communities. That blueprint was crafted decades ago, and the communities’ original condo owners were notified about the plan, SANDAG officials said Friday.

More recent residents in the neighborhood have complained for the past three years about the proposal, which will send buses past their homes every 10 minutes.

On Friday, several of them held “stop the bus bridge” signs at the SANDAG meeting in downtown San Diego.

“This project will unquestionably destroy the value of the homes and the lifestyle of the people living there,” said Jo Anne Springer of Chula Vista. “It is an example of government at its worst.”

A few SANDAG board members said they couldn’t overlook the project’s flaws. The board, which includes elected city and county leaders, oversees development of the region’s freeway and mass-transit networks.

“I think that this is an example of poor planning,” said Solana Beach Councilwoman Lesa Heebner, adding that the bridge element “just is wrong.”

La Mesa Mayor Art Madrid and Encinitas Councilwoman Teresa Barth said they oppose the project for similar reasons. National City Mayor Ron Morrison said he couldn’t vote for it because the one-lane bridge is too narrow.

San Diego Mayor Bob Filner, who attracted a phalanx of TV news cameras to SANDAG’s meeting because of the growing sexual-harassment allegations against him, also voted against the project. He did not explain his reasoning.

The SANDAG board could have chosen a “go-around” route that would have avoided the condo communities, but that option would have forced the agency to scrap one of the 11 bus stations. SANDAG planners said that option would add two to three minutes to the overall route and make buses more vulnerable to traffic jams in the area. It might also lead to passengers missing transit connections, they said.

Led by a motion from Chula Vista Mayor Cheryl Cox, the board selected a narrower bridge than originally planned. The new span will be 16 feet from homes, while the earlier proposal for a two-lane bridge would have placed the crossing 10 feet away from the homes.

Cox said Chula Vista and SANDAG officials would work with residents on the bridge’s design, which could be changed from a wall that cuts off access under the bridge to a span supported by pillars that would allow people to walk underneath.